Working long hours? Here’s how over-working increasing your risk to heart attack and stroke

Most of the people nowadays love labeling them as workaholics which is not bad when we’re looking into a single facet. Over-working yourself might bring you success in your job, but it can take a heavy toll on your health. A recent study has revealed that working too long can increase the risk of developing irregular heart rhythm, which is known as atrial fibrillation. This can further increase the risk of stroke and heart failure, the study suggests.

The study showed that as compared to people who worked a normal week of between 35-40 hours, those who worked for 55 hours a week were 40 percent more likely to develop atrial fibrillation.

"A 40 per cent increased extra risk is an important hazard for people who already have a high overall risk of cardiovascular disease due to other risk factors such as older age, male sex, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, overweight, smoking and physical inactivity or living with an established cardiovascular disease," said Mika Kivimaki, Professor at the University College London.

"This could be one of the mechanisms that explain the previously observed increased risk of stroke among those working long hours. Atrial fibrillation is known to contribute to the development of stroke, but also other adverse health outcomes such as heart failure and stroke-related dementia," Kivimaki added.

For the study, published in the European Heart Journal, the team analysed data from 85,494 men and women from the UK, Denmark, Sweden and Finland who took part in one of eight studies in these countries. During the ten-year follow-up period, there were 1,061 new cases of atrial fibrillation.

The study gave an occurrence rate of 12.4 per 1000 people but among the 4,484 people working 55 hours or more, the incidence rate was 17.6 per 1,000.

(With IANS Inputs)

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